Tea
by The Emcee
Summary: Set immediately after The Middle Earth Paradigm. Leonard was a bit surprised by Sheldon's gesture of making tea and offering him comfort. As a result, his thoughts begin to wander... Leonard/Sheldon with some Leonard/Penny. Slight slash. One-shot.


A/N: This just came to me while I was watching _The Middle Earth Paradigm._ It's a very short one-shot featuring some Leonard/Sheldon and some Leonard/Penny. R&R. Enjoy!

**Tea**

Leonard was more than a bit perplexed when Sheldon came over to him with a cup of tea in hand. Although he, though reluctantly at times, considered Sheldon his best friend, Leonard knew that the theoretical physicist was, more often than not, apathetic and rarely demonstrated caring for things other than himself and whatever research, theory, or project he was working on. So for him to make and bring Leonard a cup of tea was truly a remarkable event indeed. There have been numerous times where Sheldon told Leonard point blank that he didn't care, but that was just one of the things that Leonard's learned to accept about his friend. Besides, Leonard believes that, secretly, Sheldon was more insecure than him and preferred to dive into whatever project or research he was conducting to distract himself from whatever insecurities plagued him.

"I brought you some tea."

He wasn't unintelligent, not by a long shot. Leonard knew that, deep down, Sheldon cared about him and Raj and, to an extent, Howard; he just…had trouble showing it. And by trouble, Leonard meant that he didn't want to show it. Just as Mary had told him, Sheldon could be extremely stubborn when he wanted to be, which was most of the time. But it was the same things that Sheldon did or said that told Leonard that he cared. Like when Sheldon expressed his support when Leonard was confronting Kurt. And like right now, as Sheldon was placing the cup of tea on the table.

"There, there."

A small pat and a few words. Such small, almost insignificant things to the average human being, but Leonard and Sheldon weren't average human beings. Their IQ's alone made sure of that, not to mention their own unique quirks, habits, and hobbies. Prior to Sheldon bringing him tea, Leonard's thoughts had been preoccupied by Penny, Kurt and the party. Now, however, his thoughts had turned to his best friend and how he showed that he cared, even if he did so subconsciously. The tea. The words. The physical contact. All of these things and more made Leonard stop and think, really think, about his roommate and best friend.

Even after Sheldon left him with his own thoughts, Leonard couldn't stop thinking about him. It was odd. Sure, Leonard often thought about Sheldon. Granted, a vast majority of his thoughts focused on how annoying, stubborn, and irritating the theoretical physicist was most of the time, but it was different now. Now, his thoughts were running through each and every scenario that Leonard could remember in which Sheldon said or did something that showed his support and how he cared.

"Hey."

Penny. Penny was here. Sitting on his…on their couch, talking to him about the party, about Kurt, and about how drunk she was. At this point, words were just coming out of his mouth even though his mind and the thoughts within it were still focused on Sheldon. And then, Penny kissed him. It was a drunk kiss, but a kiss nonetheless. Shock and surprise swept over him and Leonard felt himself tensing up at the unexpected gesture. However, his body relaxed and he kissed back. As they kissed, however briefly, Leonard couldn't help but think of how…disappointing he felt. The kiss wasn't anything like he thought it would be. He thought that sparks would fly or something ridiculous like that.

Instead, he felt disappointment and a weird sort of longing. But, longing for what? Sheldon. That's what, or rather who, he was longing for. Even after Penny left, Leonard couldn't help but analyze the kiss and compare it to what he thought a kiss from Sheldon would feel like. Aside from the fact that the kiss had been drug induced, Penny's lips were a bit chapped, yet feminine and soft and red and plump. Surely, Sheldon's lips, although quite feminine in appearance, wouldn't feel like Penny's. And maybe, if he ever did kiss Sheldon, there would be sparks or something that would signal to Leonard that his body was becoming aroused and wished to partake in coitus.

As Leonard drank his tea and sat on the couch, his thoughts moved to how he would manage to kiss Sheldon. Because he was simply curious and he just wanted to compare his kiss with Penny to the kiss he would share with Sheldon. At least, that's what he kept telling himself as he drank his tea.

**The End**


End file.
